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Chairside Dental Assistant: Everything You Need To Know

A chairside dental assistant diploma has so many attractive advantages, ranging from attractive salaries to work-life balance. However, in this blog, we will talk about the common duties, curriculum, and benefits of the short duration of this course and future growth prospects after getting a chairside dental assistant diploma.

Typical Duties Of A Chairside Dental Assistant

On a daily basis, a chairside dental assistant has to perform several duties; some of them are mentioned here. The duties include the preparation of patients for dental examination so that the dentist can operate the client without spending any additional time, assist the dentist with different dental procedures, prepare dental devices and instruments, etc. Chairside dental assistants also do clerical work such as schedule and fix appointments, provide post-operative instructions to patients, receive payments, order supplies, manage patient records, and maintain daily clinic materials such as gloves and other hygiene products.

Type Of Courses And Curriculum

The curriculum and the type of courses in chairside dental assistant include safety and infection protocols for dental clinics, basic trainings such as WHMIS and first aid, charting and record keeping, etc. The basics of dentistry are also taught in dental science foundations such as dental terminology and language, oral structures and facial anatomy, general anatomy of teeth, types of occlusions, etc. Some diploma programs may also teach introduction to computers, communication skills, healthcare interpersonal skills, career and employment strategies, etc.

Short Duration And Its Benefits

You don’t need to commit yourself too long for this course. Since these programs end only in four to six months, you can join the workforce in a very short time compared to other diplomas that take eight months to two years. For instance, Edison College is offering a chairside dental assistant diploma that takes only four months to complete. This program is compact and balanced so that students get all the required skills and can also start the job in a short time. The benefit of a short diploma is that you can quickly transition from the student life to a job, which has significant monetary benefits.

A Diploma That Opens Up Avenues For Further Trainings

If you are not sure whether you will be a fit in this field, chairside dental assistant is the best diploma for you. The reason is that this is the most basic diploma, often called the Level 1 dental assistant diploma, which you can take in a short period of time. Suppose you develop an interest in your job and want to get further training, then you can opt for intra-oral dental assistants that are often regarded as Level II dental assistants. This upgrade in training means that you can now do mechanical polishing, take impressions of preliminary impressions of the teeth for study models, use anesthetics, and do so many other technical procedures yourself. Obviously, this will help you get a higher salary compared to a chairside dental assistant because you are now eligible to do additional tasks. Moreover, you will be eligible for so many other certifications, such as orthodontic assisting, oral surgery assisting, pediatric dental assisting, etc.

Conclusion

In our earlier blog on chairside dental assistant, we discussed 5 benefits of becoming a chairside dental assistant in Canada. One of the points that we elaborated on in our last blog was that if you are getting such a diploma in British Columbia, then you can expect one of the highest starting salaries in Canada. In this blog, we have further elaborated the specifics of this career so that if you are planning to opt for this career, you can make an informed decision. Chairside dental assistant is not the end of the learning process; in fact, it is the first building block to a more successful and rewarding career because what you learn in this diploma makes a strong foundation for further growth. As mentioned above, once you have learned the basics of dental assisting in this diploma, you can unlock a number of highly rewarding opportunities in terms of both job satisfaction and growth in salaries.

Join Chairside Dental Assistant Program At Edison College

Edison College’s Chairside Dental Assistant Diploma Program prepares its graduates to not only join the industry but also excel in it. This blended chairside dental assistant program will provide you all the necessary skills related to dental assisting as well as clerical ones so that you meet all the important criteria of the job market. Keeping this philosophy in mind, Edison College keeps in touch with its graduates to help them in job placement and keep them updated about the market trends. We have already mentioned, you can expect to earn one of the highest salaries with a chairside dental assistant diploma in B.C. If you have questions or concerns, you can contact us today to learn more about this program.

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